Welcome back friends.
What makes a villain a villain or a hero a hero?
Today we are going to examine the line that these two roles play in some of our favourite
comic book characters.
That's right, we will be looking at the top 10 Spider-Man Villains who have Turned Hero.
Another point that should be acknowledged is just how many of Spider-Man's villains
have taken a walk on the heroic side.
There are quite a few.
If you have a story of Spidey villain to hero that didn't make our cut, feel free to share
it in the comments below.
And look out because you know I love reading and responding to your comments.
But before we dive into this list a word from this video's sponsor, CyberGhost VPN.
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10 Venom / Eddie Brock
Obviously Venom / Eddie Brock and Spiderman have had a turbulent history.
Originally the symbiote that is Venom bonded with Spider-Man first--well second if we count
the addition of Deadpool--and it was Venom's desire to be bonded with Spidey and his adaptation
of some of Spider-Man's abilities that made him such a powerful nemesis once bonded with
Eddie Brock.
Brock obviously has his own agenda with Spider-Man blaming him for his downward spiral.
But since his introduction in 1984, he has had a change of tune.
He and Spidey have teamed up on a few occasions, but lately it seems Venom is really making
a change for the better, from the Sony film that depicts him as more anti-hero than villain
to the Venom Inc Omega storyline that ended with Venom and Brock giving Black Cat a talking
to about what it means to be a hero.
9 Black Cat
Black Cat has had a complex history with Spider-Man as well.
Originally being introduced as a villain who occasionally fought alongside Spider-Man.
She has often flip flopped between good and evil.
Although right now she is more crime boss and even once owned of the notorious Bar With
No Name, she wasn't always such a bad kitty.
During the times when her and Spider-Man have been an item she was more hero than anything,
helping Spidey to take down Doc Ock and Mr Negative.
One could say Spider-Man has a tendency to bring out the hero within her.
Though I think Spider-Man has the ability to do this for most villains when given the
chance.
Most recently Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 issue 10 it seems like Black Cat may be turning
things around again, after Peter once revealed his secret identity to her for the first time
since it had been wiped from Black Cat's memory in the aftermath of Civil War.
8 Kraven
Kraven's heroic moments have been few and far between, this is true.
But did you know that he once was Spider-Man?
Or at least was posing as Spider-Man.
During the 1987 event, Kraven's Last Hunt the villain adopted Spider-Man's identity
in an attempt to prove he was better than the hero.
Okay, so maybe not the most noble motive.
But he actually made a pretty great Spider-Man.
Although his methods were somewhat more violent than his predecessor, he managed to achieve
something that Spider-Man struggled with single-handedly defeating villain, Vermin.
However after it was revealed in the comics that Kraven's poison had not killed Spider-Man
but in fact just been used to put him in a coma from which he arose two weeks later,
Kraven confessed his triumph to both Spider-Man as well as writing it in a suicide and killing
himself.
Don't worry though, Kraven was later resurrected by his family and returned to his old antics.
What can I say?
Hunters gotta hunt, I guess.
7 Rocket Racer
For those that aren't familiar with Rocket Racer, he was introduced to the comics in
1977 as a villain who zoomed around on a rocket powered skateboard.
Rocket Racer, aka Robert Farrell, has no powers himself but relies on his intellect, building
tech that allows him to appear super.
Rocket Racer originally turned to a life of heroism after being saved by Spider-Man and
returning to school.
He eventually joined a crime-fighting group, the Outlaws.
During this time he helped Spider-Man and the team defeat both the Maggia and Space
Phantom.
Though he has since flip-flopped back to a life of crime, Rocket Racer has spent enough
time doing good that we may very well see him flop back.
Perhaps we may even get to see him introduced as a hero in the MCU.
Who knows?
6 Norman Osborn
I feel like the bigger of a villain you are to Spider-Man, the more potential you have
to be touched by his influence.
Norman Osborn's Green Goblin has been a long standing villain to Spidey but did you know
that he was once the leader of the Avengers?
Okay, maybe not quite THE Avengers.
After Osborn became president in the comics, yes President, he brought us the Dark Avengers
to help filled the void of the dissolved Avenger team after Earth's Mightiest Heros were forced
to disband.
Not only that but Osborn also created and helped run HAMMER after the dissolution of
Fury's SHIELD.
Although the team was comprised of villains, he managed to prove that even the vilest villains
can still be used to do good.
In fact, their willingness to do whatever it took often made them better than their
heroic counterpart.
Turning Bullseye into a Hawkeye, sheer genius, Norman.
5 Morbius
This living vampire has had a turbulent past when it comes to his experience with heroism.
Despite having originally fought Spider-Man when he was introduced, Morbius quickly had
a change of heart.
Unsurprisingly, in my opinion, considering his backstory shows us that he was simply
a doctor working toward curing a blood disease and his treatment accidentally made him a
vampire.
Oops.
Since this initial fight, Morbius has been seen fighting alongside the Avengers and Blade.
Yup, you heard me right, there are quite a few comics where we see Blade join Morbius
in the comics.
Morbius was even tasked with trying to get Blade to register with SHIELD under the SRA
during the events of Civil War.
How cool would it be to see Wesley Snipes cast alongside perhaps someone like Alexander
Skarsgard in a Morbius and Blade, buddy-vampire team up film?
4 Prowler
Whether we talk about earth 1610 Prowler, Aaron Davis or earth 616 Prowler, Hobie Brown,
both have seemingly had a change of heart.
But today let's talk about Hobie Brown.
We can save Aaron's story for maybe some Miles Morales videos...?
Would anyone be interested in those vids?
Me!
Hobie Brown's involvement with crime was short lived.
He never hurt anyone and really was only involved so he could get some quick money and use it
to take care of and marry his girlfriend, Mindy.
Aww.
After being caught and spared by Spider-Man he turns to life of heroism and vigilante
justice.
He often can be seen teaming up with Spider-Man and like Rocket Racer is also a member of
the Outlaws.
Not only that but Hobie often worse under the guise of Spider-Man, helping to assist
Peter in protecting his secret identity.
3 Sandman
Despite being one of the classic Spider-Man villains, Sandman had a long running stint
of heroism in between his criminal escapades, spanning from about 1982 to 1998.
It all started when Sandman befriended The Thing and expressed regret for his life of
villainy.
The Thing took pity on the Sandman and decided not to turn him in, hoping Sandman would actually
turn things around.
I'm noticing a pattern here, wherein heroes believe in the ability for a villain to change
their ways and then it just magically works.
Because yes, like other villains, this leap of faith ended up being a worthwhile one.
Sandman later actually saves Spider-Man from the Enforcers and even ends up working for
the Silver Sable.
Sandman was also a member of the team built of former villains, the Outlaws where he also
fought alongside Spider-Man.
He has even held probationary status as an Avenger.
You know you are doing something right when the Avengers invite you to join up.
2 Karn
If you didn't know how much I love the Spider-Verse, my number two should be enough to inform you.
Karn was originally a member of the Inheritors, a family of energy feeding vampires who ended
up traveling through the multi-verse and feeding off of and killing Spider totems.
What is a Spider totem some of you may be wondering?
Spider totems are alternate Spider people from other universes.
Think Spider Ham or Spider Gwen.
Karn was always considered an outcast though when it came to the Inheritors and his family
often looked down on him.
He was in fact killing Spider Totems mostly to appease them and be allowed back into the
family and return home.
After being defeated by a team from the Spider army, he was offered a truce.
The Spider army wanted Karn to join them and used details they had of the Inheritors and
his life to try and persuade him.
They later revealed they had received theses details from the Master Weaver.
After the events of Spider-Verse wherein the Great Weaver perished, it was revealed that
the Master Weaver was actually Karn from the future and so Karn from the present took his
future self's place and completed the weird time loop.
As Master Weaver he worked to help defend the world and Spider Totems from the Inheritors.
Ah, I love the Spider verse.
1 Doctor Octopus
Probably THE most iconic super villain out there when it comes to Spider-Man, Doc Ock
was of course originally Otto Octavius a brilliant scientist who eventually transformed into
Doctor Octopus, melding with his brilliant robotic arm creation after being exposed to
radiation.
Doctor Octopus has a had a long history of villainy, mostly influenced by his insanity,
mental instability and obsession with Spider-Man.
But akin to Kraven who mentioned early, Doc Ock also had his chance at being Spider-Man.
Yup, that's right.
He assumed this identity after swapping minds with Peter Parker's body, causing Peter to
be stuck in old Otto Octavius' body which was dying.
Granted at least Doc Oc has a better reason, he wanted to be Spider-Man not just to prove
he was better but to ACTUALLY be better, to be the best Spider-Man and potentially to
avoid, you know, dying.
After adopting Spider-Man's identity, Doc Ock did just that, becoming known as the Superior
Spider-Man.
He neutralized many of Spider-Man's nemesis including the Sinister Six but his methods,
like Kraven's were also known to be severe and quite violent.
Despite all of his heroic acts, Superior Spider-Man eventually gave way to Peter Parker's consciousness
which had survived inside his former body and Otto made the heroic sacrifice, giving
up his own consciousness within Parker's body so that Peter may live on again.
And also so that Peter could save the woman he loved from the Green Goblin as he knew
only Peter Parker could do.
Thanks for watching, friends and thanks to CyberGhost VPN for sponsoring this video.
Don't forget to comment on who your favourite Spidey villain turned hero is in the comments
below, especially if you have one that didn't make the cut.
And while you're down there, remember to like and subscribe if you haven't already.
Seriously, I can't believe how many Spider-Man villains have turned good.
I mean, geez, Spider-Man can save the day just by changing people and bringing out the
good in them.
Amazing indeed.
Till next time, nerds.
This is top 10 nerd and I'm Amanda McKnight reminding you to stay nerdy, YouTube.